Sculpture
in the grass: Eric Legacys Exodus at the Berkshire
Botanical Garden.

BACK
TO THE GARDEN: Every summer for the past five years, the
Great Barrington-based arts organization Sculpture Now
has sponsored the exhibit Sculpture in the Garden at
the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. The 16-year-old
group annually offers 80 Berkshire-area high school students
a guided tour of the show, and the chance to participate in
a hands-on sculpture project in the studio of artist Peter
Barnett. (Even if the kids don’t go on to be sculptors,
the welding experience at least introduces them to a good
trade.) The organization’s good work has been recognized by
an unnamed “private foundation,” which has given Sculpture
Now $20,000 to continue its educational mission. For more
information about the exhibition (and to discuss tax-deductible
charitable giving, if you are so inclined), call (413) 698-2313.

THE
HORROR, THE HORROR: Capital Region filmmakers Joe Bagnardi
and Bruce G. Hallenbeck have finished post-production
on their anthology horror film The Edge of Reality.
Bagnardi, who directed and cowrote the screenplay with former
Metroland film critic Hallenbeck, is working with the
film’s editor and associate producer, Jeff Kirkendall, on
arranging the premiere and lining up distribution. The
Edge of Reality—shot on digital video—presents what is
promised to be three verry scarry (to borrow a phrase
from Count Floyd) tales. The opener is a variation on “The
Tell-Tale Heart,” the second offers a man and his homicidal
doppelgänger, and the final segment showcases Bigfoot (’nuff
said). If you want to view the film’s trailer, go to: www.veryscary
productions.com/trailers.html.

COME
AND GET YOUR GRANT:The New York State Council on the
Arts has awarded the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts
Council (LARAC) $62,800 to provide grants through the
Arts Initiative Program. This proves that although times may
be tough, there’s still a bit of money left over for the arts.
Of course, you can’t just stick your hand out; there are some
rules. Funding is available to not-for-profits and municipalities
based in Washington and Warren counties that provide arts
and cultural programs which are open to the public. Each applicant
may apply for one to three projects, with a minimum request
of $300 per proposal, and a maximum of $5,000 for one to three
projects. There’s a final catch, though: Applicants are required
to attend a free, one-hour seminar to be eligible. Seminars
will be held on Monday (Aug. 11) at noon, and Sept. 9 at 6
PM in the LARAC offices (7 Lapham Place, Glens Falls); Aug.
19 at 6 PM in Proudfit Hall (181 Main St., Salem); Aug. 27
at 6 PM in Thurman Town Hall (311 Athol Road, Athol); and
Sept. 4 at noon in the Old Stone House Library (36 George
St., Route 4, Fort Ann). The deadline for submitting applications
is Sept. 29. For more information, call LARAC at 798-1144,
or visit www.larac.org.

PLAYWRIGHTS,
SHARPEN YOUR PENCILS: The theater is not dead. To help
it stay that way, the Barrington Stage Company has
announced the Herrick Theatre Foundation Play Competition
for New American Plays. They aren’t messing around, either:
First prize is $20,000, and two runners-up will receive $1,000
each. The top prizewinning play will also get the full workshop
treatment, with professional actors, at Barrington Stage Company.
(Special consideration will be given to actually producing
the work on the main stage, too.) Rhoda Herrick, founder
and head of the Herrick Theatre Foundation, was quoted
as saying that “nothing in the theater outweighs the development
of new plays.” The deadline for entries is Dec. 1. A panel
of professional judges will whittle the entries down to 10
by April 1, 2004, and a second panel will select and announce
the winners in May 2004. Competition information can be obtained
by calling (413) 229-2076 ext.107, or by visiting www.barringtonstageco.org.

FREE
POEM, ACT NOW: No matter what George W. Bush and
Donald Rumsfeld may say, Gulf War 2 sure doesn’t seem
like “mission accomplished.” Well-known Albany poet Dan
Wilcox, who has been a visible and vocal opponent of the
war in Iraq, has written “Baghdad/Albany,” which reimagines
the attack on the Iraqi capital as an attack on Albany. Sample
couplets: “The sound of planes overhead, the trucks on New
Scotland Ave./are the invading army, blasting into Albany.”
And: “Galleries burn, paintings and photographs melt with
the wallpaper/no poetry can be heard on Lark St., or Hudson
Ave., or North Pearl.” If you are suitably tantalized and
would like to read the rest, then the Friends of the Albany
Public Library have done you a service by arranging to
print and distribute 1,000 copies of “Baghdad/Albany.” For
more information, e-mail friendsofapl@yahoo.com or call 427-4333.